Patrizia Selleri

Assessing quality of life in children and adolescents: development and validation of the Italian version of the EQ-5D-Y

Background : Although assessment of Health Related Quality of Life (HRQoL) in paediatric populations is gaining interest, it is not sufficiently assessed. While a number of specific paediatric instruments have been developed, some users appear to prefer generic tools such as the EQ-5D, which is a widely used and recommended tool to describe and value health across many different adult populations. We adapted the EQ-5D generic instrument into the EQ-5D-Y(youth) for the assessment of HRQoL in children and adolescents, and investigated the feasibility, acceptability, validity and reliability of this new version of the tool. Methods : The Italian version of the EQ-5D-Y was administered to 415 children and adolescents from a general population aged between 8 and 15, and to 25 paediatric patients diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia (ALL). Results : The Italian version of the EQ-5D-Y was found to be feasible and acceptable for self-completion in the target age-group, with less than 1% refusing to complete it and no invalid answers given. Convergent and divergent validity tested with a child specific standard instrument was satisfactory overall. The test-retest reliability was moderate to good in all the domains of the descriptive system, and the Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) showed optimal levels of reliability (Intraclass Correlation Coefficient = 0.82). As regards known-group validity, compared with the youths from general population, the ALL patients reported more difficulties in four of the five domains of the descriptive system and, on average, had a lower VAS score. Conclusions :The Italian version of the EQ-5D-Y shows to be a promising tool for assessing HRQoL in children and adolescents from 8 to 15 years of age. Future studies should further investigate and optimize its applicability to clinical research and carry out economic evaluations within the health system.

Teacher judgments and pupils’ causal explanations: Social valorization of effort-based explanations in school context

Achievement evaluation in school contexts may be considered as a kind of social judgment, which is affected by social and moral determinants since it is not merely an estimation of pupils’ accomplishment (Dompnier, Pansu, & Bressoux, 2006; Weiner, 2003). Teachers’ judgments have been investigated starting from the analysis of two theoretical approaches: the norm of internality (Dubois, 2003), and the attributional approach to social motivation (Weiner, 2006). In order to study the social valorization of internal explanations referring to effort in school context, an empirical research has been conducted. Our study investigates how teachers evaluate fictitious pupils, which are supposed to explain events by means of different types of causal explanations. According to our results, pupils providing effort-based explanations receive more positive judgments. Findings are discussed by considering effort as a key principle of school environments.RésuméLe jugement scolaire peut être considéré comme un jugement social influencé par des déterminants sociaux et moraux puisqu’il n’est pas seulement une estimation des résultats des élèves (Dompnier, Pansu, & Bressoux, 2006; Weiner, 2003). Le jugement des enseignants a été investigué à partir de l’analyse de deux approches théorique: la norme d’internalité (Dubois, 2003) et l’approche attributionnelle de la motivation sociale (Weiner, 2006). Le but de cet article est de tester l’hypothèse de la valorisation sociale des explications internes en appelant à l’effort dans le contexte scolaire. L’étude, basée sur la méthode des juges, a été conduite, en Italie, auprès de 121 enseignants. Les enseignants étaient invités à évaluer des élèves (fictifs) connus par leur niveau scolaire (fort ou faible) et par leurs réponses à un questionnaire d’internalité (évoquant majoritairement des explications soit internes en termes d’habileté, soit internes en termes d’effort, soit externes). Les résultats montrent que les élèves connus pour avoir donné des réponses internes en termes d’effort sont mieux jugés que les autres et font l’objet d’un meilleur pronostic. Les résultats sont discutés en considérant les explications internes en termes d’effort comme un principe clé du contexte scolaire.

What Marks Should I Give? A Model of the Organization of Teachers' Judgments of Their Pupils.

The present study is devoted to the empirical endeavour of showing the structural characteristics of this claimed general dimension, its longitudinal consistency, and its causal influence on the first level organization of judgments. A content analysis of school reports of 77 Italian pupils, filled out by their own five teachers over five years of compulsory school (from 6 to 10 years) show seven major topics, which are used by the teachers for their year-scheduled evaluations.A Lisrel-based two-levels model of the organization of judgments is then presented and discussed. This model is shown to be well held by teachers at the end of the first school form and it allows to predict the organization of their evaluations during third and fifth form, as well as final judgments of each form.This model is discussed in a social psychological framework, which underlines the role played by normative aims of the school programmes and the evaluative everyday practices as major professional duties for teachers.

Social Networking and research: an experience with Facebook

Employing Social Networks as a tool for collecting data, optimizing time management and enhancing variability within the group of participants

Children’s experience at school: expected and perceived quality by mothers

La qualita attesa e percepita del sistema scolastico e della scuola frequentata dai figli costituiscono temi cruciali nell’esperienza delle madri. Esse infatti svolgono ancora un ruolo specifico nelle pratiche di cura e nell’educazione dei figli, certamente durante il periodo della scuola dell’infanzia e della scuola dell’obbligo. Una dettagliata rassegna della letteratura specialistica sulla qualita della scuola ha per-messo di individuare dei temi specifici sottoposti, sotto forma di un questionario, ad un campione di oltre 700 madri di due regioni italiane. Grazie ad un’analisi delle corrispondenze, i risultati mostrano che un livello socio-culturale medio-alto delle madri e associato ad una qualita attesa elevata verso il sistema scolastico che si concretizza in scelte impegnative per la famiglia e richieste altrettanto impegnative verso gli insegnanti. Analogamente un livello socio-culturale medio-alto, la qualita percepita e, quindi, il grado di soddisfazione verso la scuola scelta per il figlio ap-paiono associati soprattutto alla qualita degli insegnanti operanti in una scuola impegnativa (in parte suggerita da amici e conoscenti), e ad un’esperienza scolastica precedente considerata positiva. “Essere madri non e sufficiente”: le posizioni sociali differenziano i percorsi di vita e influenzano i percorsi di socializzazione e le scelte educative che li caratterizzano.

L'esperienza scolastica dei figli : la qualità attesa e percepita dalle madri

La qualita attesa e percepita del sistema scolastico e della scuola frequentata dai figli costituiscono temi cruciali nell’esperienza delle madri. Esse infatti svolgono ancora un ruolo specifico nelle pratiche di cura e nell’educazione dei figli, certamente durante il periodo della scuola dell’infanzia e della scuola dell’obbligo. Una dettagliata rassegna della letteratura specialistica sulla qualita della scuola ha permesso di individuare dei temi specifici sottoposti, sotto forma di un questionario, ad un campione di oltre 700 madri di due regioni italiane. Grazie ad un’analisi delle corrispondenze, i risultati mostrano che un livello socio-culturale medio-alto delle madri e associato ad una qualita attesa elevata verso il sistema scolastico che si concretizza in scelte impegnative per la famiglia e richieste altrettanto impegnative verso gli insegnanti. Analogamente un livello socio-culturale medio-alto, la qualita percepita e, quindi, il grado di soddisfazione verso la scuola scelta per il figlio appaiono associati soprattutto alla qualita degli insegnanti operanti in una scuola impegnativa (in parte suggerita da amici e conoscenti), e ad un’esperienza scolastica precedente considerata positiva. “Essere madri non e sufficiente”: le posizioni sociali differenziano i percorsi di vita e influenzano i percorsi di socializzazione e le scelte educative che li caratterizzano. Parole chiave: esperienza scolastica, qualita attesa, qualita percepita, esperienza materna, esperienza figli.

Lavoro di cura, famiglie e futuro: riflessioni per uno strumento di ricerca

Il presente contributo riguarda le riflessioni teoriche che hanno portato alla costruzione di uno strumento di ricerca sul tema delle cure educative che le madri pensano ed agiscono nella vita quotidiana nei confronti dei figli. Utilizzando una prospettiva che studia i contesti sociali come unita d’analisi a piu livelli, dall’individuale al collettivo (Bronfenbrenner, 1979), dalle azioni alle rappresentazioni (Doise, 1982), integrando in questa prospettiva anche lo studio delle Rappresentazioni Sociali (Mugny, Carugati, 1985), vengono descritti i principali contenuti di un questionario somministrato ad un campione di madri con figli di eta tra i 5 e gli 11 anni. Parole chiave: madri; cura educativa; vita quotidiana; Rappresentazioni Sociali

PIH14 DETECTION OF SEMANTIC AMBIGUITY IN THE ITALIAN CHILD-FRIENDLY EQ-5D VERSION

(0.018; 90%CI). The oneand two-period lagged PAT_AP (0.451 & 0.297; 99%CI) and LIFEXP65 (0.018; 99%CI) were highly significant and PHARM_R&D (0.166; 90%CI) was marginally significant. CONCLUSIONS: In contrast to effects in HCE in previous studies there is an ageing effect (pull factor) causing rising EPD as well as for pharmaceutical innovations. Additionally, we found a push factor, namely R&D expenditures of pharmaceutical industry causing increasing EPD and innovations. Increasing doctors’ consultations lead to decreasing EPD maybe caused by successful application of lower medical therapies or by additional following non-medical therapies which are not affecting EPD.